2NR: Wow, I'm dealing with an OG in street racing here. Some of the younger generation should be thanking you for paving the roads.
JK: Now I wouldn't go that far. Let's just say that times have changed and so has the import scene.
2NR: How did you transition into the import scene back then from your Capri?
JK: Well... I've always had a fix-up car. I had a '78 Trans Am and did a few things here and there to the engine but it wasn't a real big thing. I'm more of a compact car guy. I bought an '83 Celica and a lot went into that car. That was when I began getting into turbocharged cars. The Celica had a full custom turbo kit and the engine was completely built from the ground up.
2NR: Such fond memories. I had the same car back in high school.
JK: It was definitely fun. I have to admit those independent rear ends weren't the best for drag racing. You just can't get enough contact patch on the ground. In its days the Celica was a quick vehicle but remember at that time compacts were running 15 to 16 seconds in the quarter mile. That was fast then. I remember one of the first Civics we turbocharged back in the '90s was running 12-second e.t.s. At the time a lot of people said a front wheel drive will never hit 12s, much less a Honda. We made all those doubters eat their own words.
2NR: Who was this guy hitting 12-second e.t.s in the quarter mile?
JK: A guy by the name of Archie Medrano in a red '89 CRX. Archie was one of the first guys out there known to consistently beat up on all those imports at the races and even a couple of the V8s. At the time I believe Terminal Island was still open for sanctioned drag racing and he was one of those who frequented the track.
2NR: Moving from the street racing, let's talk about your influence on the turbo industry. You are the founder and owner of FastTrax Turbo correct?
JK: Correct. At the time of starting FastTrax Frank Choi [from the Battle of The Imports] had held his first event. I can honestly say it was Frank and the Battle of the Imports that caused the biggest upward swing in the import industry. It was that first event that gave the import cars the recognition in the drag race industry and people witnessed Archie as well as others and what their cars were capable of with a turbo system. The Northern California guys at the time were naturally aspirated or using Nitrous while the SoCal guys were going turbocharged. It was no contest. The turbocharged cars pretty much dominated. From then on it really began to escalate and people began calling me inquiring about turbo kits.
2NR: What was your line of work before you began FastTrax?
JK: My background came from owning an auto repair shop. I came into the industry with knowledge about basic automotive repair. I saw the potential and growth in the import industry, which pulled me toward starting my own business, building turbochargers, tuning and building motors out of my auto repair shop. When business began picking up on the turbo side I closed the repair shop and moved to a different location. That was when I opened the doors to FastTrax in the summer of 1997.
2NR: What about the FastTrax logo you guys used? That was a creative concept; your typical garden-variety snail-hauling ass down the road. Who came up with that concept?
JK: Oh, that idea is owed in part to a lot of creative thought. Basically, I had a friend who worked at Garrett that gave me the information I needed for the different types of Turbo trims and a lot of other recommendations. He was my backbone in the turbo industry. A friend of mine by the name of Mario Lozano who owns a fabrication shop by the name of Toe Speed Racing had a lot to do with the design of the FastTrax logo. I call his shop TSR because I can't stand the name Toe Speed. But if you look at Mario then yeah, you can see where that name comes from. Anyway, what happened was one day all three of us were sitting down at the table and Todd Kaneko from Garrett came up with this idea of using a snail and putting a turbine propeller in the snail's shell. He drew up a crude image on a piece of paper and handed it to Mario, who is also blessed with artistic ability. Mario took that image and revamped it and it finally came to me. I liked it so I transferred it onto the computer and cleaned it up. The final logo is what you see on many of the cars sporting the FastTrax turbos and turbo kits.